Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA) is an Indian social welfare measure that aims to guarantee the 'right to work'. This act was passed on August 23, 2005, and was implemented in February 2006 under the UPA government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It aims to enhance livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to at least one member of every household.
In the initial years, MNREGA was a true game-changer, rural wages started climbing and reports also pointed towards a decline in migration to urban centres. A National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) study of 2015 showed that the Act helped in lowering poverty by almost 32 per cent between 2004-05 to 2011-12 and prevented almost 14 million people from falling into poverty. MGNREGA acted as a crucial safety net during the COVID pandemic. In the financial year 2020-21, the number of person days of work provided under the scheme rose drastically to 389 crores, in comparison to the previous year’s figure of just 265 crore. In 2021-22 too, the demand for MGNREGA work remained high, and 363 crore person days of work were generated. As the Covid-19 pandemic raged, a record 40% increase in the demand for MGNREGA work was seen during this time as compared to pre Covid-19.
